I. THE HOLINESS OF JESUS CHRIST. THE FACT OF CHRIST'S HOLINESS Acts 4:27,30 — "For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together. By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and what signs and wonders may be done by the name of the holy child Jesus." Mark 1:24 "Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God." Luke 4:34 "Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God." Acts 3:14 "But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you." 1 John 2:20 — "For ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things."

First Proposition:Jesus Christ is holy, absolutely holy. He is "The Holy One."

Note. In the Old Testament it is Jehovah who is called the Holy One.

Jehovah is called "the Holy One of Israel" about thirty times in Isaiah.

WHAT DOES HOLY MEAN?

Leviticus 11:43-45 — "Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby. For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves and ye shall be holy; for I am holy; neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy." Deuteronomy 23:14 — "For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee." (See the context.)

Holy means free from defilement. To say that Christ is absolutely holy is to say that He is absolutely pure. (Compare to 1 John 3:3 — "Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.") The Bible brings out this absolute purity of Christ: Hebrews 7:26 RV — "For such a high priest became us holy, guileless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." Hebrews 9:14 RV — "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" 1 Peter 1:19 — "But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." 1 John 3:5 — "And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin." 2 Corinthians 5:21 — "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Hebrews 4:15 — "For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." 1 John 3:3 — "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."

Second Proposition: The Bible multiplies expressions and figures to produce an adequate conception of the absolute holiness or moral purity of Christ.

Nothing in nature compares to it except light. 1 John 1:5 — "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." (Compare to John 8:12 — "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.") The dazzling white light that glorified the face and garments of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration ( Matthew 17:2; Luke 9:29) was the outshining of the moral purity within.

Third Proposition: The holiness of Jesus Christ manifested itself in a love of righteousness and a hatred of iniquity.

It is not enough to love righteousness; iniquity must be hated as well. On the other hand, it is not enough to hate iniquity; righteousness must be lowed as well. There are those who profess to love righteousness, but they do not seem to hate iniquity. They are strong in applauding right, but not equally strong in denouncing evil. There are also those who profess to hate sin, but they do not seem to love righteousness. They are strong in denouncing evil, but not equally strong in applauding right. Jesus Christ's holiness was complete as well as spotless; he loved righteousness and hated iniquity. 1 Peter 2:22 — "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." John 8:29 — "And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him." Matthew 17:5 — "While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." (Compare to John 12:49 — "For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.") Fourth Proposition: The holiness of Jesus Christ manifested itself in deed and word — negatively, in His never doing sin or speaking falsehood, and positively, in His always doing what was pleasing to God and always speaking the things which pleased God.

The holiness of Jesus manifested itself not merely negatively in not doing or speaking wrong, but also positively in speaking all that God desired, all that was right to do or speak. A full manifestation of holiness does not consist merely in doing nothing wrong, but in doing all that is right. Hebrews 4:15 — "For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."

Fifth Proposition: The holiness of Jesus manifested itself in constant and never-failing victory over temptation. It was not merely the negative innocence that results from being shielded from contact with evil, but also the positive holiness that meets evil and overcomes it.

The entire Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), especially Matthew 5:48 — "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

Sixth Proposition: The holiness of Jesus Christ manifested itself in demanding absolute perfection of His disciples and refusing any compromise with evil. Matthew 23:13 — "But woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in." Matthew 16:23 — "But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." John 4:17-18 — "The woman answered and said, I have no husband.

Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he who thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly." Matthew 23:33 — "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?"

Seventh Proposition: The holiness of Jesus Christ manifested itself in the stern and scathing rebuke of sinners. 1 Peter 2:24 "Who in his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." 1 Peter 3:18 — "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 5:21 — "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (Compare to John 10:17-18 — "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.") Philippians 2:6-8 — "Who, being in the form of God, though it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Galatians 3:13 — "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: For it is written, cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree."

Eighth Proposition: The holiness of Jesus Christ manifested itself in His making the greatest sacrifice in His power to save others from the sin He hated and to the righteousness He loved.

This was the crowning manifestation of His holiness. He so hated sin and loved righteousness that He was not only willing to die rather than sin Himself, but even to give up His divine glory, be made in fashion as a man, and die the death of a malefactor, and be rejected of man and separated from God, that others might not sin. He was willing to make any sacrifice to do away with sin. Matthew 25:31-32,41 — "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 — "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and they that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power."

Ninth Proposition: The holiness of Jesus Christ will manifest itself in the awful, irrevocable punishment of those who refuse to be separated from their sin.

He died to separate men whom He loves from sin which He hates. If men refuse this separation, He leaves them to their self-chosen partnership and the doom which it involves. Men talk much of the holiness of God and the love of Jesus, but Jesus is just as holy as God, and God is just as loving as Jesus ( John 3:16; Ephesians 2:4-5). In this as in all else Jesus and the Father are one ( John 10:30).

Let us remember that first of all our Savior is holy. Until we have an adequate conception of His holiness, we can have no adequate conception of His love.

WITNESSES TO THE HOLINESS OF JESUS CHRIST.

Acts 3:14 "But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you." — Peter. 1 John 3:5 — "And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin." — John. 2 Corinthians 5:21 — "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." — Paul Acts 4:27 — "For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the People of Israel, were gathered together." — The whole Apostolic Company in Concert. Acts 22:14 "And he said, the God of our Fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldst know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldst hear the voice of his mouth." — Ananias. Luke 23:41 — "And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss." — The Dying Thief. Luke 23:47 — "Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteousness man." — The Roman Centurion. Matthew 27:19 — "When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him." — Pilate's Wife. John 18:38 — "Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find no fault in him at all." John 19:4,6 — "Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him." — Pilate, himself, three times. Matthew 27:3-4 "Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood." — Judas Iscariot. Mark 1:23-24 "And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God." — The Unclean Spirit. John 8:46 — "Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?" John 14:30 — "Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." — Jesus himself. John 16:8,10 — "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more." — The Holy Spirit. Hebrews 1:8-9 — "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, that anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Matthew 17:5 — "While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." — God the Father.